Top 10 Atlantic Canada experiences

Maxxim Vacations, a 19-year-old travel company based in St. John's, N.L., works with 700 suppliers, from B&B and bistro owners to iceberg-spotting outfitters. Since the company makes custom itineraries to suit travellers' interests, it boasts that its staff "know Atlantic Canada like the back of their hand." Here are Maxxim staff's Top 10 favourite things to do Down East:

1. Discover artisans' treasures in the amazing économusées -- working museums, which sell their products, from jellies to jewelry -- found along New Brunswick's Fundy Coast.

2. Sip champagne and dine on the freshest lobster with your loved one on stunning Parlee Beach, near Shediac, N.B.

3. Dance the night away in Mabou, N.S., with those who gather from all over Cape Breton for a Ceilidh or Maritime party. Maxxim staffers report that some clients never want to leave.

4, Smell the sweet scents of apple blossom time in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley in June.

5. Savour the surprisingly delicious potato pie and sample specialty jams and jellies at the P.E.I. Preserve Company Café, famed for its glorious gardens.

6. Channel your inner patriot as you hear the tales of our country's origins and stand in the founders' footsteps in Founder's Hall in Charlottetown.

7. Dip your toes in the North Atlantic at Middle Cove beach -- mere minutes from downtown St. John's via Marine Drive. "The beach is home to towering cliffs, pounding waves, icebergs in the spring and whales in the summer -- don't forget your camera so you can bring home some wonderful memories," says Maxxim's Ivy Tobin.

8. Salivate as you taste blueberry crisp like no other at the Country Corner café in the seaside community of Brigus, on Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula.

10. Travel to France by ferry in just 90 minutes: the tiny islands of St. Pierre et Miquelon are just a few kilometres off the Newfoundland coast and are officially part of France, "so you know you'll find fine wines and delicate pastries for which the French are famed," say Maxxim staffers.